Editing Rubber Soul (section)

==Background==
[[File:Beatles press conference 1965.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|left|The Beatles at a press conference during their August 1965 North American tour, two months before the start of the ''Rubber Soul'' sessions]]
Most of the songs on ''Rubber Soul'' were composed soon after [[the Beatles]]' return to London following their [[The Beatles' 1965 US tour|August 1965 North American tour]].{{sfn|Lewisohn|2000|p=202}} The album reflects the influence of their month in America.<ref name="Lewisohn/MojoSpecial">Lewisohn, Mark. "High Times". In: {{harvnb|''Mojo Special Limited Edition: The Psychedelic Beatles''|2002|p=28}}.</ref> They set a new attendance record when they played to over 55,000 at [[Shea Stadium]] on 15 August, met [[Bob Dylan]] in New York and their longtime hero [[Elvis Presley]] in Los Angeles.{{sfn|Ingham|2006|pp=31–32}} Although the Beatles had released their album ''[[Help!]]'' that same month, the requirement for a new album in time for Christmas was in keeping with the schedule established with [[EMI]] in 1963 by [[Brian Epstein]], the group's manager,{{sfn|Guesdon|Margotin|2013|p=270}} and [[George Martin]], their record producer.{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=309}}

In their new songs, the Beatles drew inspiration from [[soul music]] acts signed to the [[Motown]] and [[Stax Records|Stax]] record labels,{{sfn|Du Noyer|2020|p=80}} particularly the singles they heard on US radio that summer,{{sfn|Gould|2007|pp=284–85}} and from the contemporary [[folk rock]] of Dylan and [[the Byrds]].<ref name="Unterberger/AM" /> Author Robert Rodriguez highlights the Byrds as having achieved "special notice as an American act that had taken something from the Brits, added to it, then sent it back". In doing so, Rodriguez continues, the Byrds had joined the Beatles and Dylan in "a common pool of influence exchange, where each act gave and took from the other in equal measure".{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|pp=40–41}}{{refn|group=nb|Along with [[the Mamas & the Papas]], the Byrds started as a folk act but embraced rock as a result of the Beatles.{{sfn|Turner|2016|pp=204–205}} Both of these American bands drew from [[George Harrison]]'s use of the [[Rickenbacker 360/12|Rickenbacker 12-string electric guitar]] in 1964 to pioneer the folk rock style over the following year.{{sfn|Kruth|2015|p=78}}}} According to music critic [[Tim Riley (music critic)|Tim Riley]], ''Rubber Soul'' served as a "step toward a greater synthesis" of all the elements that throughout 1965 represented a "major ''rock 'n' roll'' explosion", rather than just the emergence of folk rock. Citing Dylan and [[the Rolling Stones]] as the Beatles' artistic peers during this period, he says that on ''Rubber Soul'' these two acts "inspire rather than influence their sound".{{sfn|Riley|2002|pp=154–55}}

Two years after the start of [[Beatlemania]], the band were open to exploring new themes in their music through a combination of their tiring of playing to audiences full of screaming fans, their commercial power, a shared curiosity gained through literature and experimentation with [[hallucinogenic drugs]], and their interest in the potential of the recording studio.{{sfn|Decker|2009|pp=75–76}} According to [[Ringo Starr]], ''Rubber Soul'' was the Beatles' "departure record", written and recorded during a period when, largely through the influence of [[Cannabis (drug)|marijuana]],{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=194}} "We were expanding in all areas of our lives, opening up to a lot of different attitudes."{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=584}}{{sfn|Kruth|2015|p=8}} The album was especially reflective of [[John Lennon]]'s maturation as a songwriter,{{sfn|Du Noyer|2020|pp=73, 76}}{{sfn|Womack|2017|p=305}} as he was encouraged to address wider-ranging issues than before through Dylan's example.{{sfn|Turner|2016|pp=76–77}} [[George Harrison]]'s outlook had been transformed by his and Lennon's experiences with the hallucinogenic drug [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|LSD]];{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|pp=51, 54–55}}<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Michael|last=Simmons|title=Cry for a Shadow|magazine=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]|date=November 2011|pages=78–79}}</ref> he said the drug had revealed to him the futility of the band's widespread fame<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Anthony|last=DeCurtis|title=George Harrison|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=5 November 1987|pages=47–48}}</ref> by "open[ing] up this whole other consciousness".{{sfn|Gould|2007|p=317}}

Author Mark Prendergast recognises ''Rubber Soul'' as "the first Beatles record which was noticeably drug-influenced".{{sfn|Prendergast|2003|p=191}} Lennon called it "the pot album".{{sfn|Case|2010|p=27}}{{sfn|Norman|2008|p=415}} Marijuana appealed to the band's [[Bohemianism|bohemian]] ideal. [[Paul McCartney]], who was the only Beatle still living in central London, said it was typical of a move away from alcohol and into "more of a [[beatnik]] scene, like jazz".{{sfn|Du Noyer|2020|pp=73–74}}
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